Author: Eric Kuehnl
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Call Me, Anytime.
I give my mobile phone number to students. There, I said it. I give them my personal mobile phone number. It’s not a shiny red “Bat Phone” that I reserve for student calls. It’s my everyday phone that I use to call my wife, receive calls about freelance gigs, check email, read Twitter feeds, and…
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How Did I Get Here?
When I was a kid, I was a pretty good student. I was always good at taking tests, and that carried me through even though my study habits were not that great. (Actually, that didn’t work so well in college Calculus, but that’s no big surprise.) Anyway, it’s kind of funny, considering my current career…
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Contract Grading
Many of my colleagues have moved to what is considered a “modern” grading model in their online and face-to-face courses. Typically, they make a large number of points available that embrace various learning modalities, and then use some fraction of those points to determine the student’s final grade. For example, a course might make available…
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The Bleeding Edge, Pt. 2
So, I’ve previously mentioned several new game audio courses that I’ve developed for the Music Tech program at Foothill College. (Actually, one of them is still just an outline that needs to be developed for next quarter, but I digress…) These classes are as cutting edge as we get in our industry, and there are…
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Do Industry Certifications Matter?
I teach in the Music Technology program at Foothill College, and I really enjoy the duality of teaching both academic and vocational courses. It gives me a flexibility in course creation that simply wouldn’t exist at a four-year university where career training (if it even exists) takes a backseat to ivory tower academic pursuits. Many…
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The Bleeding Edge
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the difficulty of keeping up with the latest technology in my classes. In my field, Music Technology, there’s an interesting split between foundation courses and electives. The foundation courses typically deal with basic concepts in audio engineering, as well as the fundamentals of using a digital audio workstation.…
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FMOD Studio
FMOD Studio was released last year, and it is quite an amazing tool for game audio design and implementation. Just the fact that it looks like a DAW and supports standard control surfaces is enough to raise some eyebrows. Training materials have been steadily rolling out, and I can definitely say that now is an…
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Glassworks
I generally think of myself as more of a minimalist with a little “m.” In other words, one who embraces a more spare, spacious approach to composition. But I’ve also got a weak spot for the big “M” Minimalists like Philip Glass. On a recent trip, I rediscovered one of his most popular works, Glassworks.…
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Modular Love
I spent an enjoyable Friday night with my 3-year-old son watching I Dream Of Wires, a documentary about the modular analog synth. The recently released “Hard Core Edition” clocks in at 4 hours! Highlights include a complete history of Moog and Buchla modulars, interviews with electronic music icons including Vince Clarke (of Depeche Mode, Yaz,…
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New Year, New Start
Sometimes, the only way to actually “finish” a project is to be faced with a deadline. I know I’m not the only one who has a huge backlog of Pro Tools and Ableton Live sessions waiting to be completed “some day.” This year I’ve decided to do something about it. I’m planning to participate in…